Method of assembling anode structures



7 mug E. H. LEHMAN METHOD OF ASSEMBLING ANODE STRUCTURES Filed Aug. 2, 1941 Inventor: Ernest H. Lehman Feb, 1, 1944.

His Att or-neg.

Patente d Feb. 1, 1944 METHOD OF ASSEll/[BLING ANODE STRUCTURES Ernest H. Lehman, Scotia, N. Y., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application August 2, 1941, Serial No. 405,219

5 Claims.

My invention relates to means for and methods of simplifying and facilitating the manufacture of structures comprising cooperating threaded members which are to be provided respectively, before final assembly, with openings required to come into alignment when the members are 'screwedtogether to a desired degree of tightness.

The invention is directed especially to the provision of such means and methods in the manufacture of anode structures for mercury arc rectifiers or the like.

In Morton et a1. Patent 2,286,755, dated June 16, 1942, and assigned to. the same assignee as the present application, an anode locking system is disclosed and claimed wherein a locking member or washer is mounted between a flange portion of the anode stem and a surface of the anode tip. The locking member or washer includes extensions or tabs one or more of which are adapted to be bent, before the anode tip is screwed to the stem, into openings formed through the anode tip. The washer further includes one or more similar extensions ortabs adapted, after the tip is screwed to the stem, to,

be bent by means of a long punch or rod extended through other openings in the tip intocorresponding openings formed in the flange portion of the anode stem and inralignment with those openings in. the anode tip through which the...

punchis extended. The anode tip is thus locked in position on the stem and prevented from unscrewing, therefrom duringtransportation and operation. The anode tip,vhowever,, may readily be disassembled from the. stem by bending back the first-named washer extensionsor tabs out of the, anode-tip openings into which they extend, by meansof thelong punch or rod extended through these latter openings, thereby releasing the tip which may then be unscrewed from the stem.

In order to' simplify and facilitate the construction and assembly on'a practical manufacturing basis of the anode structure including the locking system requiring openings or pairs of openings in alignment in the finished structure as stein portion 2 extends.

In accordance with my present. invention this object is accomplished by theprovision .of ji members respectively threadedcorrespondingly with the anode tip and the anode stem and having holes therethrough corresponding respectively with and employed to indicate the positions of the openings in the'anode tip and stem which are required to be in alignment when the anode structureis finally assembled.

The novel features which are considered to be characteristic .of my invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. .My invention itself, however, both as, to its organization and method of operation together with further objects and advantages thereof may best be understood by referenceto the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein Figs. 1 and 2 arerespe tiVeIy an elevational and cross-sectional view and a plan view illustrating the form and construction of ji me bersutilized in carrying outthe invention; Figs. {Sande are respectively elevational and plan views of one of thejig membersscrewed to an anode tip; Figs. 5 and 6 are similar views of the other jig member screwed to an anode stem; and Fig. 7 illustrates the final assembly of the anode structure. w Y 7 Referring to Figs. 1 andZ, the numeral l designate's a jig member which includes a threaded stem portion 2 and a flange or other "extension portion 3 having a fiat surface 4 from which the The numeral 5 designates a second 'jigmembe'r, of any suitable form, for example cylindrical, in which is formed a threaded hole 6 corresponding with the threaded stem portion 2 of jig member I. The jig member 5 may preferably include a body portion 1 of relatively small diameter and a flange portion 8 at one end thereof having a flat surface 9.

The'jig members I and 5 correspond respectively to the anode stem and anode tip of the anode structure, such as illustrated in Fig. 7, which is to be provided with openings required tobe in alignment when the stemand tip are screwedtogether, and the threaded portions 2 and l of the members I and 5 are characterized by the samescrew diameter and screw form as are theco-rresponding threaded portions of this anode structure.

In forming the holes which are to be employed in jig members I and 5 for indicating the positions of the corresponding openings to be formed in the anode structure, the. flange portionof one of thejig members, as member I, may first be bored through to form the desired holes, for example the holes I9, II, I2 and I3. The jig members I and are then screwed tightly together with the surfaces 4 and 9 in close contact, reference marks I4 and I5 on the two members I and 5 being preferably provided which are in alignment when the members are in this position. Corresponding holes I6, I1, I8 and I9 in alignment respectively with the holes 1-43 of member I are then bored in the flange portion 8 of member 5 as by employing member I as a tem-- plate.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, to form the herein above-mentioned required openings in an anode tip 20, the jig member I and the anode tip 29-are screwed tightly together with surface 4 of the jig member in close contact with an end surface 2I of the anode tip, a reference mark 22 being made on the anode tip 29 in alignment with the reference mark I4 of jig member I when the jig member and anode tip are in'this position. Employing the flange portion 3 of jig member I as a template, the positions of openings 23, 24, 25 and 26 are indicated on the surface 2I of the anode tip and these omnings are bored in the anode tip after removal of the jig member therefrom, or the openings 2326 may be bored through the anode tip before removing the jig member. Metal inserts 2! and 28 at the ends of one or more of the openings, as 23 and 24, may be provided if the anode tip is of graphite.

Referring to Figs. 5 and 6, to form the required openings in an anode stem or stud 29 to be later assembled to the anode tip 20 of Figs. 3 and 4, the other jig member 5 and the anode stem 29 are screwed tightly togetherwith surface 9 of the jig member in close contact with a flat surface 30 of a flange or other extension portion 3| of the stem, a reference mark 32 being made on the flange 3| in alignment with the reference mark I5 of jig member 5 when the latter jig member and the anode stem are in this position. Employing the jig member 5 as a template, the positions of openings 33, 34, 3 5, and 38 are indicated on the surface 30 of the flange portion 3| of stem 29 and these openings are then bored in the anode stem, either before or after the removal of the jig memher 5 therefrom.

Referring to Fig. '1, after removal of the jig members I and 5 respectively from the anode tip 20 and the anode stem 29, and after the forming of the openings 23-25 in the tip and of the openings 3336 in the stem, a locking member 31 having the form of a washer as described in the above-mentioned application Serial No. 396.584 is placed on the end surface 2| of anode tip 29, and locking extensions, as 38, with which the washer is provided. are bent into the holes 23 and 24 having the inserts 21 and 28. The anode stem 29 is then screwed into the anode tip 20 to bring the surface 30 of the stem and the surface 2I of the tip into contact, a recess 39 which is formed in the anode stem providing space for the washer.

It will be noted that any two corresponding holes, as I9 and I6 for example, injig members- I and 5 have been so located, as described in connection with Figs. 1 and 2, as to be in alignment when these jig members were screwed tightly to gether with reference marks I4 and I5 in alignment. It will further be noted that opening 23 of anode tip 20 was so located as to be in alignment with hole I 9 of jig member I when the latter jig member and the anode tip were screwed tightly together with reference marks I4 and 22 in alignment, and that opening 33 of anode stem 29 was so located as to be in alignment with hole I6 of jig member 5 when the latter jig member and the anode stem were screwed tightly together with reference marks I5 and 32 in alignment. Therefore, upon screwing the anode tip 29 and stem 29 together as shown in Fig. 7 until their respective surfaces 2I and 30 are in close contact, like that close contact which obtained between the jig surfaces and the anode surfaces when forming the openings 23 and 33, the latter openings 23 and 33 will come into aligmnent as shown in Fig. 7, with reference marks 22 and 32 correspondingly in alignment.

After the anode members 29 and 29 are thus assembled in position with corresponding openings, as 23 and 33, in proper alignment, the anode members are, as described in the above-mentioned Morton et al. Patent 2,286,755, finally locked together against loosening or unscrewing by bending another tab or tabs, as 40, of the washer 31 into a cor-responding opening or openings, as 36, of the anode stem 29.

The invention has been described herein in connection with the assembling of the tip and stem members of an anode structure. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to such application and that in general while the invention has been described in a particular embodiment for purposes of illustration, it is susceptible of various changes and modifications and that by the appended claims I intend to cover any such modifications as fall Within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Means for determining before the assembly of one threaded member to a second threaded member the respective positions of openings to be formed in said members and to be in align- .ment. when said members are screwed together,

said means comprising two jig members threaded respectively correspondingly with said firstnamed two members, said jig members having holes formed therethrough corresponding respectively to said openings, said holes being in alignment When said jig members are screwed together, said jig members being adapted to be screwed respectively to said first-named two members to indicate the positions of said openings therein.

2. Means for determining before the assembly of an anode tip to an anode stem the position of an opening to be formed in said tip and an opening to be formed in said stem, said openings to be in alignment when said tip and stem are screwed together, said means comprising two jig members threaded respectively correspondingly with said tip and stem, said jig members having holes formed therethrough corresponding respectively to said openings, said holes being in alignment when said jig members are screwed together, one-of said jig members being adapted V to be screwed to said tip to indicate the position through and in alignment when said jig members are screwed together, said jig members being adapted to be screwed respectively to said tip and said stem to indicate through said holes the positions of said openings in said tip extension portion and said stem.

4. The method of assembling a structure having two threaded members adapted to have pairs of openings formed therein to be in alignment when said members are screwed tightly together, which comprises, providing jig members respectively threaded correspondingly with said threaded members, forming a pair of holes through each of said jig members corresponding respectively to said pairs of openings and in alignment when said jig members are screwed tightly to.- gether, screwing one of said threaded members tightly to the corresponding jig member, forming a pair of said openings in said one threaded member in accordance with the position of said holes in said last-named jig member, screwing the other threaded member tightly to the other jig member, forming a pair of said openings in said other threaded member in accordance with the position of said holes in said other jig memher, and screwing said threaded members tightly together.

5. The method of assembling an anode structure having a threaded anode tip and a threaded anode stem and adapted to have pairs of openings formed in said tip and stem to be in alignment when said tip and stem arescrewed tightly together, which comprises, providing jig members respectively threaded correspondingly with said tip and stem, forming a pair of holes through each of said jig members corresponding respectively to said pairs of openings and in alignment when said jig members are screwed tightly together, screwing said tip tightly to the corresponding jig member, forming a pair of said' openings in said tip in accordance with the position of said holes in said last-named jig member, screwing said stem tightly to the other jig member, forming a pair of said openings in said stem in accordance with the position of said holes in said other jig member, and screwing said tip and stem tightly together.

ERNEST H. LEHMAN. 

